#X95

BLK LBL handguards with integrated bipods are really cool upgrade parts allowing you to have a bipod that when stowed completely disappears into the handguard. The company started by offering their bipod handguards for AR-pattern rifles and bolt guns. Later, they ventured into the bullpup market and designed handguards with integrated bipods for the Desert Tech MDR family of rifles. Well, BLK LBL keeps exploring the bullpup territory and has introduced a version of their bipod-integrated handguard for the IWI Tavor X95 rifles. Let’s take a look at the BLK LBL Tavor X95 bipod handguard.

Israel’s Ministry of Defense has contracted with Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) for an unspecified number of X95 bullpup rifles. The announcement from IWI explains that the contract will see ‘additional thousands’ of Micro Tavors supplied for the Israeli Defense Force’s infantry brigades.

In this episode of TFBTV, confirmed AR-15 bro James Reeves reviews the IWI Tavor X95 and gives you 6 ways the IWI Tavor is actually better than the standard AR-15/M16/M4 series of rifles. This is going to be a zesty one so make sure to check it out.

If you are an IWI X95 owner you know that there is a factory pistol grip option. I wrote a review on this factory pistol grip a while back. Well, almost six years later the pistol grip is still hard to get. Six years ago, 3D printing was not as it is now. Now you have companies pumping out their own parts using multi-jet fusion 3D printing and they are strong and robust. 3 Panther Products is such a company and have made their own TG-C Grip for the Tavor X95.

Accessories for the IWI X95 are rather limited. A lot of them are made by Manticore Arms. Well, Sven Jonsson, owner of Manticore Arms, has just released his X95 Optimus polymer forend. It is an extended handguard for your IWI X95 rifle.

Now don’t get me wrong. The AR-15 is an amazing platform and I own several. I love how ergonomic and modular the rifles are along with the availability of parts in the market. I have been trying to get away from the AR-15 control system and look at new options because it’s never bad to look at your options.

A YouTube channel called 45Snipers has published a video showing a very detailed 3D model of the IWI Tavor X95 rifle and demonstrating how different parts and assemblies of that weapon work. The animation starts with stripping the rifle down to the firing pin then adding the parts and naming them and then it goes on showing how the action and controls of this weapon system work. You can find the mentioned video embedded below.

Punj Lloyd Raksha Systems, India’s first privately owned small arms manufacturer, are set to begin building IWI X95s in Madhya Pradesh. The new joint venture with IWI will produce not just the X95 but also the Galil designated marksman variant, the Negev light machine gun and the original Tavor bullpup rifle.

Recent imagery of the Latin American-based special operations competition organized by U.S. South Command has shown that some members of the Panamanian contingent were using 5.56x45mm IWI X95 select-fire carbines during the small arms live fire portion of the course. In particular, there were only two Commandos of the Panamanian team that were pictured with the X95s with a tan FDE finish. The other team members ran through the carbine portions with 5.56x45mm NATO M4 carbines as they had been doing every year. However for the competitors running the X95s, it appears they actually came from a different branch of service than the M4 wielding teammates, due to the uniforms (Multicam versus digital) and gear they were donning.

Recent photographs have revealed that the Armed Forces of Senegal have acquired large amounts of 5.56x45mm NATO Tavor X95 rifles. Specifically, it appears that two distinct Senegalese forces are using the rifle at present. The first being a special operations component of the armed forces. This was first shown about a year or two ago while troops were on parade in the capital of Dakar. At TFB we’ve taken a number of screenshots from the parade (separate from previous Youtube link, viewed here). The Tavors seen on parade are actually older Tavor CTAR Flattop rifles with 380mm barrels that are in either black or tan finishes with mounted MEPRO MOR reflex sights.

The defense forces of Cyprus will soon be turning in their H&K 7.62x51mm G3 rifles for 5.56x45mm X95s in a recent deal between the government of Cyprus and Israeli Military Industries. The X95 is already seeing limited issue, most recently at an annual independence day parade held on the first of October. In addition to the G3s currently in service, the National Guard (active component, including reserves, not the same as the U.S. National Guard), also has AK74s in service that these X95s will most likely be replacing as well. Not pictured, but mentioned in the article is an “Accuracy sniper rifle, which has an effective range of three kilometres”. This is most likely referring to Accuracy International, and in particular probably the .50 BMG AX50 precision rifle, due to the long range specified, and the lack of a current anti-material rifle in the Republic of Cyprus’s inventory.

The 2017 Association of the US Army annual meeting was the public debut of Israel’s new full caliber bullpup rifle, the Tavor 7.  Announced in late June via IWI’s Facebook page, the Tavor 7 is a 7.62mm / .308 Winchester caliber semiautomatic bullpup rifle patterned after the Tavor family of 5.56mm (etc.) caliber bullpups.

IWI US announced the Tavor X95 chambered for the 300 BLK is now shipping to dealers. The bullpup design rifle has become quite popular in 5.56 NATO, and many people have been looking forward to getting a 300 BLK version ever since it was announced during the summer of last year.

In an unprecedented turn of events, the Indian government has approved the building of a private sector small arms factory at Malanpur in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Previously, the Indian small arms industry has been entirely nationalized, with the Ministry of Defence-run Ordnance Factories Board overseeing the production of everything from armored vehicles to the somewhat notorious Nirbheek revolver designed for sale to Indian civilian women. Now, however, the Indian engineering group Punji Lloyd are partnering with Israeli Weapons Industries to open the very first private sector small arms factory in the nation. The factory is part of a new effort to meet the long-unfulfilled needs of the Indian military for modern, quality small arms in the wake of the government’s decision to scale back issuance of the troubled INSAS assault rifle in favor of older models like the AKM.

The bullpup rifle tends to be – when it comes up – a pretty divisive subject among “tactical” rifle shooters. Bullpup detractors dismiss the layout as clunky and awkward, while its proponents cite the advantage of longer barrels and shorter overall lengths. Both camps are often correct in their criticism, but there is another aspect of the bullpup that I think often goes poorly addressed – if it is addressed at all. That is the subject of balance.